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St Stephens by Launceston Rural is a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the east of
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England, United Kingdom. It is in the Registration district of Launceston. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 312, increasing to 360 and including Dutson at the 2011 census. The former parish of ''St Stephens by Launceston'' was abolished in 1894: ''St Stephens by Launceston Urban'' became part of the town of Launceston, while ''St Stephens by Launceston Rural'' became part of Launceston Rural District. The parish lies immediately north west of the town of Launceston and is bounded to the south by the parishes of Launceston, St Thomas the Apostle Rural, and
Lawhitton Lawhitton ( kw, Nansgwydhenn) is a village in the civil parish of Lawhitton Rural, in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated two miles (3 km) southwest of Launceston and half-a-mile west of Cornwall's border with Dev ...
. To the east it is bounded by the
River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...
(the border between Cornwall and
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
). To the north and north-west it is bordered by the parishes of Werrington,
North Petherwin North Petherwin ( kw, Paderwynn Gledh) is a civil parish and village in the historic county of Devon and the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated five miles (8 km) northwest of Launceston on a ridg ...
and
Egloskerry Egloskerry ( kw, Egloskeri) is a village and civil parish in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately northwest of Launceston. Egloskerry parish consists of the village itself and many outlying hamlets and farms, in ...
.


History

In Anglo-Saxon times there was a monastery here dedicated to St Stephen whose canons owned the surrounding land including the town of Launceston (i.e. ''Lan-stefan-ton'') (the name did not then belong to Dunheved the present town). A mint was established here as early as the reign of Aethelred II, 976, but only one specimen is known to exist (it weighs 1.61g). However, after the Norman Conquest the Norman Earl acquired Dunheved and rebuilt the castle there. He expropriated the market and mint of the canons and the townspeople followed them to Dunheved.''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 198 (The name of Launceston belonged originally to the monastery and town here, but was then transferred to the town of Dunheved.) The church of St Stephen Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP40/800, in 1461; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no800/bCP40no800dorses/IMG_0652.htm ; 4th entry, second line retained its importance and remained the mother church of many of the surrounding parishes, Tremaine, Egloskerry, Tresmeer, Werrington, St Giles, Laneast, St Thomas, St Mary Magdalene and others throughout the Middle Ages.


Notable buildings

The parish church, dedicated to St Stephen, is within the northern outskirts of the town of Launceston at . The church's buttressed and battlemented tower (16th century) houses a ring of six bells. The church was built in the early 13th century after the monastery which had been on this site had moved into the valley near the castle. The old tower was demolished by Reginald Earl of Cornwall. The present fine tower was built in the 16th century; the font is Norman. On the Tamar at Yeolmbridge is the oldest bridge in Cornwall: it has two pointed arches and the roadway has been widened in modern times.


Notable residents

*
Joan Rendell Joan Rendell MBE (1921 – 4 May 2010) was an English historian, writer (mainly on Cornish subjects), and phillumenist. Life Rendell was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1921. She was the daughter of Gervase Rendell, born 1879 in Eastry, Kent. For ...
, historian, resided at Yeolmbridge in the latter part of her life.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephens By Launceston Rural Civil parishes in Cornwall Villages in Cornwall Launceston, Cornwall